1. Miniclip
image source: gamesindustry.biz
Miniclip was the place to be if you wanted fun little flash games, because it didn’t take a lot to keep us entertained online back then. You could be on this website for hours playing Dune Buggy or Raft Wars, and although the games were short and simple, they were dangerously addictive!
2. Newgrounds
image source: thehistoryoftheweb.com
This website truly had it all, from exciting flash games to art and animated videos to while away the hours with. It also had forums to get involved with, during a time when everyone wasn’t quite so aggressive on the internet (sigh). There was also a 18+ section that everyone felt like a rebel with if they managed to get in.
3. Albino Blacksheep
image source: reddit.com
These days we’re inundated with memes, gifs and short videos that go viral – it’s just the norm – but back in the 00s, Albino Blacksheep was where you went to watch classic videos like The Kitty Dance and the Llama Song. The website also had the Musical Lantern game if you wanted a break from dancing cats.
4. Addicting Games
image source: venturebeat.com
The clue’s in the name with this one, and it definitely fulfilled on its promise! Those are hours we’ll never get back, but we regret nothing. This website was filled with a ton of great games like Escape: The Room, and Mini Putt, that’ll keep you entertained for as long as you were allowed to stay up for.
5. Yahooligans!
image source: pinterest.com
Don’t let the name fool you – this was basically just Yahoo! for kids – made all the more obvious by the green slime theme (because it’s more fun). This was the site you went to if you wanted a few games to pass the time, forums to get involved in or even just use its base function as a search engine!
6. FunnyJunk
image source: reddit.com
We only have to say ‘Salad Fingers’ and we unlock a memory most of us forgot we had (or maybe pushed it far back because it’s a little too creepy for our liking). FunnyJunk was another website filled with tons of videos and animated characters, including the world’s number one fan of rusty spoons.
7. My Scene
image source: pinterest.com
Have we ever really grown out of loving a good beauty makeover site? It’s a guilty pleasure for sure. My Scene let you give animated characters full makeovers, show them off, go shopping and even watch online episodes. And there were definitely enough characters to have your first crush on!
8. Star Doll
image source: reddit.com
If you were a part of the Superstar membership club on Star Doll, then you’d truly made it in life. This site let you dress up celebrities (like dolls, of course) and even collect your own Star dollars to spend. It was a great place to connect with friends doing the same, too.
9. Club Penguin
image source: nbcnews.com
Do you remember Rockhopper, the pirate penguin? If you saw him, you were lucky. This website was definitely for the ‘cool’ kids, where you got to build your own igloo, just like you’d dreamed it, and complete missions set for you in the freezing cold temperatures (which luckily you couldn’t feel through the screen).
10. Bebo
image source: dailymail.co.uk
Bebo was once the go-to social media site, before the big giants of today. Shout out to Bebo for making us spend hours and hours just trying to choose the right profile skin. You also had the fun time of arranging your top 16 on your page for everyone to see, and you could also give “luv” to someone special.
11. Dollz Mania
image source: reddit.com
Because what can be more fun than making tiny doll versions of you and your friends online? Dollz Mania was another great dress up site where you could actually copy and paste your completed doll images into other documents – like Microsoft Paint – so that you had a saved copy!
12. Gaia Online
image source: webdesignmuseum.com
Gaia Online was for those who loved creating their own avatar and escaping into a different world – and here, you could walk around with your new bright pink hair style and explore the local virtual towns, connect with others and even buy Gaia cash so that you can visit the marketplace.
13. Weebl’s Stuff
image source: youtube.com
For some of us, ‘Badger Badger Badger Mushroom Mushroom’ is our Roman Empire – and who remembers ‘here come the lions, only in Kenya?’ Weebl’s Stuff had the best of the best in terms of weird little animations and ditties you’ll remember for a lifetime.
14. Fanfiction.net
image source: amazon.co.uk
Sure, Character AI might have taken all the fun out of it these days for those who worked hard actually writing both sides of the conversation, but back then, fanfiction.net was all we had! You ended up getting addicted to made up stories of your favorite fictional characters – and having a go at writing something borderline smutty of your own (don’t deny it).
15. Quizilla
image source: everything2000s.tumblr.com
We’ve never grown out of our love for online quizzes, and Quizilla was truly the best of the best in the 00s. The quizzes extended from seriously ridiculous like “are you hungry?” to the most convoluted action adventure where depending on whether you chose to go ‘left’ or ‘right’ you could end up on a 20 page story.
16. Neopets
image source: dazed.com
Neopets was definitely a childhood-defining website in the 00s. You’d not only get to choose your Neopet, but then you could explore all the exciting worlds online – anything to avoid doing your homework for a little longer! You also had the daily omelette you had to remember to collect!
17. Ask Jeeves
image source: nbcnews.com
This was the reality before Google: we only had a polite butler to ask our most pressing questions. And Jeeves is probably to blame for most of us originally writing our Google queries actually as full questions with a question mark at the end! Thank you for your service, Jeeves.
18. Runescape
image source: forbes.com
Who remembers chopping logs at 1am? This was the number one place to log on after you’d finished school, and dressing up your character was just the beginning! Trying to find gold, upgrading your armor and survive in this exciting world was the precursor to the RPGs we love today.
19. MySpace
image source: nbcnews.com
MySpace was peak 00s – and it was the first proper introduction we all had to a serious social media page. Most of us uploaded the most embarrassing videos and profile pictures, as well as having the arduous task of trying to arrange our top friends in preferential order – not to mention the soundtrack we wanted for our profile page!
20. Habbo Hotel
image source: rockpapershotgun.com
This has to be the number one website for defining an era. Habbo Hotel had it all: your own room to decorate, a pool on the roof, the ability to order a cheeseburger you could never hope to taste – and, bonus, you got to spend a ton of real life money to buy virtual rubber duckies. Those were the days.
